Saad Mohseni - CEO of Farsi1

Saad Mohseni born April 23, 1966 is an Afghan-Australian who, along with his brothers Zaid and Jahid Mohseni and sister Wajma Mohseni, returned to his native Afghanistan in 2002 to establish the Moby Group, Afghanistan's largest media company with interests in television, radio, print, production, online news services, directories, IT&T, and retail.

Prior to establishing Moby, Saad Mohseni, a career banker, headed the equities and corporate finance division of an Australian investment banking firm.

Media and Broadcasting

Based on external survey numbers, Moby Group can claim that its media outlets reach some 11 million Afghans every day, representing some 70% of the total media audience in the country. Moby's media interests include Tolo TV (Afghanistan’s most watched television station), Lemar TV and Arman FM (Afghanistan’s most listened to radio network). All three are national terrestrial free-to-air networks available throughout the country. Viewers and listeners can also tune in via satellite in Asia, North America and Europe.

Increasingly, Tolo and Lemar are also acquiring foreign audiences from Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the GCC and Lemar (Pakistan and the GCC).

In 2009, Moby Group has launched a third television station named Farsi1, which it describes as the "first international free-to-air general entertainment TV channel in Persian"

Moby Group

Moby Group is privately owned, with headquarters in Kabul and 15 bureaus throughout Afghanistan. The company also has offices in Washington DC and Dubai, the latter from which Moby’s regional Middle Eastern business is conducted.

Media production

Moby Group's award-winning Kaboora Productions features state of the art production and editing facilities and distribution services for film and video. Kabooora has recently worked with international production entities in the production of feature films (The Kite Runner with DreamWorks/Paramount Vantage) and documentaries amongst others. Kaboora produces over 15 ½ hours of original content daily

Moby Group's Barbud is a music production and distribution company and Afghanistan’s first recording company. Barbud works with the nation’s rising musical stars to provide the most current recordings and video clips as well as to promote their individual careers regionally.

Lapis is a full service communication firm that offers clients the full range of services from strategic consultancy to message creation and production to monitoring and evaluation.

Print online

Moby Group's Afghan Scene Magazine is Afghanistan's most widely distributed English language glossy magazine. The magazine aims to connect Afghanistan's expatriate community with news, views and What's on information.

Quqnoos is an online news site run out of Moby's newsroom in Kabul. It covers all Afghanistan-related news in Persian, Pashto, and English.

Moby Media Updates (MMU) collates Afghanistan's top related international news and delivers it daily to subscribers' inboxes.

Awards

Afghanistan’s landmark drama series, Raaz Hai Een Khana, The Secrets of This House, took the Special Award at the Seoul Drama Awards in October 2008. Screened on Tolo and produced by Kaboora Productions, Raaz Hai Een Khana is the first drama series ever entirely written, acted, filmed, produced and broadcast by Afghans, for Afghans in Afghanistan. It was selected for a Special Prize amongst 152 entries from 33 countries around the world.

In over 36 weekly episodes, the show follows the story of family visited by an exiled cousin returning after 30 years to reclaim the home they have been living in. It resonates with issues facing many Afghan families, exploring the themes of tradition and change, generations and the extended family, all within the contemporary setting of the post Taliban, redevelopment - focused Afghanistan. Roya Sadat, director of Raaz Hai Een Khana, is a self taught and award winning female film maker.

Afghan Star, a documentary co-produced by Afghanistan’s Kaboora Productions and the UK’s Roast Beef Film nabbed two major awards at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in theUS in January 2009. Havana Marking was awarded Best Director for a Documentary for Afghan Star (the World Cinema Directing Award) while Afghan Star was also presented with the People’s Choice Award (the World Cinema Audience Award for a Documentary).

Afghan Star tells the story of a local Afghan Pop Idol TV series in which people from across the country compete for a cash prize and record deal. 2000 people audition, including three brave young women. The viewers vote for their favorite singers by text message and for many this is their first encounter with democracy. This timely film follows the dramatic stories of four young contestants as they compete but it takes a terrifying turn as one young woman dances on stage, threatening her own safety and the future of the show itself. In Afghanistanyou risk your life to sing.

Jahid Mohseni and Saad Mohseni were the executive producers of Afghan Star along with Martin Herring and Mike Lerner of Roast Beef Productions.

MobyNet

Andeshagah a chain of cafes in Afghanistan with computer/internet access as well as modern furniture and surroundings. The cafes provides young Afghans with a new type of setting in which to gather, read, use the internet and socialise.

Afghan ITT was established in 2002 to provide ITT and telecoms related solutions. Afghan ITT has developed a number of capabilities, including supply and maintenance of MGE and APC UPS systems, computer equipment such as Dell and HP and Cisco, and broadcast specific solutions and equipment. 456 a Moby Group service designed to bring the latest content to customers using telephony and other delivery means.

Investment banking

Khazana Capital is an investment bank incorporated in 2007 under the laws of Afghanistan to work closely with both the public and private sectors to create, re-structure, and re-organise business enterprises in a consulting capacity as well as to assist in raising capital working with the various international agencies and financial institutions in an asset management function.

The company is part owned by Moby and operated by a small team of well-qualified and experienced bankers and lawyers based in Kabul and Dubai.

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